Reviews
Lisa Jewel is most definitely one of my favourite writers. I love her writing, the way that it gets me hooked to the story every single time. About this book, I loved the characters, the depth of each one of them, the story behind them, so well described that I could "see" them in my mind. Although I enjoyed all the twists and turns, and the fact that it made me doubt who the suspect was several times, I felt the ending a bit rushed and that it didn't give me the closure I was expecting. So I rate it 4 ⭐, and I can't wait for the next Lisa Jewel's book!
3.5 stars | this is a perfectly good book. It’s more of a slower suspense novel and the ending is just as slow? Quiet? It doesn’t make you go “wow”. One thing that bugged me was the way these 12-13 yo kids talked and thought. They were way too mature just to move along the plot and it always took me out of the story.
From the beginning of the book, there was a horrible incident with a young girl; but then it says “before” and we learn about what led up to this occurring, and then we also get an after. The book follows both children and parent point of views and the whole time we are left wondering who did it. I seriously loved this book that I actually finished it on my lunch break from work! It was a book where I was sucked in and wanted to know what happened (which is the GOAL!!!) You grow so attached to each of the characters but are also so suspicious of them. Lisa Jewell really did a great job with her writing and point of view changes to keep the reader engaged throughout the entire thing. 8/10, definitely recommend if you want a little mystery in your life.
The first half of this book is extremely slow. Once you're finished the "before", the story picks up, but thats over half way into the book. There didn't need to be so much information in the before, it made it really boring. I had suspicions of who was involved and they were confirmed at the end of the book. The 10 months later bit pissed me off. Just allowing it to happen? Idk, not my cup of tea.
I found this book to be one of those dark books that I do not always enjoy. I thought that the writing was very good and the setting of the book was very well written as were the characters. I do love a mystery and this was a mystery with a dark twist to it. The story had a lot going on, a few sub-plots that were good. While I do love a mystery and this was a good guessing game with a well written plot and well-developed characters and story line, it was just not my type of book, it was just too dark for me.This review was originally posted on
Again. So well written. I’m a huge Lisa Jewell fan so I’m definitely adding this one to my recommendation list!
I read this book fairly fast because the author does a great just at effortlessly writing the lives of these characters. It has such a ethereal yet ominous backgroundy feeling to it throughout the book, making assumptions but not knowing where to turn your head next at risk of missing the thing you turned from. It’s captivating and interesting to see into the communal lives of the residents and find out all their secrets and lies.
This is my first Lisa Jewell and I will say she is skilled at writing interesting, questionable and layered characters. I liked the idea of this and the many layers of backstory and intertwined feeling of their lives. The atmosphere was really ominous and I actually think this was almost a disservice to the story. I felt like something extremely dark was lurking but I found myself waiting and waiting for the answer and the tension was ultimately let out a little. The ending for me was a little disappointing as well, I liked some elements but I would've liked to see it go further and explore more elements that I think were overlooked. 3.5 stars.
4.5 So I'm officially obsessed with Lisa Jewell's books. The only reason this wasn't a five star is because the ending fell a little flat for me but apart from that it was great.
Really giving this book 3.5 stars. While it was good, it wasn't great. This was the first book I've read by Lisa Jewell and I plan on reading another one of hers soon so hopefully it's better than this one. It had too many slow spots in it for me to really grab my attention so I pretty much skimmed through until it got towards the end. Ending was a bit of a surprise for me but that didn't change my opinion on the book overall.
Definitely a great summer night binge novel, although I'm not too sure how I feel about the overall story. Set in London neighborhood of homes that all border a semi-private "garden" which is more like a three-acre park, the story opens with 12 year-old Pip finding her 13 year-old sister Grace comatose and half-naked in a rosebush in the titular garden. What follows is the prior events of Pip's family moving to garden, the neighbors they meet, and how Grace ended up in the bushes. Told from multiple POVs, I was kept guessing until the end. Lots of despicable characters to go around, but still an enthralling read.
